Tighina County was a county (

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

: ''

județ A (, plural ) is an administrative division in Romania, and was also used from 1940 to 1947 in the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic and from 1998 to 2003 in Moldova. There are 41 in Romania, divided into municipii (municipalities), ''ora ...

'') in the

Kingdom of Romania The Kingdom of Romania () was a constitutional monarchy that existed from with the crowning of prince Karl of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen as King of Romania, King Carol I of Romania, Carol I (thus beginning the Romanian royal family), until 1947 wit ...

between 1925 and 1938 and between 1941 and 1944.

Geography

The county was located in the eastern part of

Greater Romania Greater Romania () is the Kingdom of Romania in the interwar period, achieved after the Great Union or the related pan-nationalist ideal of a nation-state which would incorporate all Romanian speakers.Irina LivezeanuCultural Politics in Greate ...

, in the southeastern part of the historical region of

Bessarabia Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...

, at the border with

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. At present, the territory of the former county is part of the

Republic of Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. The unrecognised ...

. Tighina County was bordered to the west by

Cahul County Cahul County was a county of Bessarabia. In the Middle Ages, its territory belonged to the Fălciu County, in Moldavia, but after the annexation of Bessarabia by the Russian Empire in 1812, it became a county by itself. History Two smaller jurisd ...

, to the north by Lăpușna County, and to the south by Cetatea-Albă County. To the east was the Soviet border on the other side of the

Dniester River The Dniester ( ) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and then through Moldova (from which it more or less separates the breakaway territory of Transnistria), finally discharging into the Black Sea on Uk ...

Administrative organization

The county was administrative subdivided into four districts ('' plăși''):Portretul României Interbelice - Județul Tighina
/ref> #Plasa Bulboaca, headquartered at Bulboaca #Plasa Căușani, headquartered at Căușani #Plasa Ceadâr-Lunga, headquartered at Ceadâr-Lunga #Plasa Cimișlia, headquartered at

Cimișlia Cimișlia () is a town located in the southern part of Moldova situated on the banks of the Cogâlnic River, between the capital of Chișinău and the autonomous territorial unit of Gagauzia. Cimişlia had a population of 11,997 according to th ...

Tighina County had two urban localities: *

Tighina Bender (, ) or Bendery (, ; ), also known as Tighina ( mo-Cyrl, Тигина, links=no), is a city within the internationally recognized borders of Moldova under ''de facto'' control of the unrecognized Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic (Transn ...

, an urban commune and the county seat. *

Comrat Comrat (, ; , ) is a city and municipality in Moldova and the capital of the autonomous region of Gagauzia. It is located in the south of the country, on the Ialpug River. In 2014, Comrat's population was 20,113, of which the vast majority are ...

, an urban commune located in the western part of the county.

History

After the

Union of Bessarabia with Romania The union of Bessarabia with Romania was proclaimed on by Sfatul Țării, the legislative body of the Moldavian Democratic Republic. This state had the same borders of the region of Bessarabia, which was annexed by the Russian Empire following t ...

in 1918, the county belonged to the

, which set up the county formally in 1925. After the 1938 ''Administrative and Constitutional Reform'', this county merged with the counties of Lăpușna,

Cetatea Albă Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi (, ; ; ), historically known as Aq Kirmān () or by other names, is a port city in Odesa Oblast, southwestern Ukraine. It is situated on the right bank of the Dniester Estuary leading to the Black Sea, in the historical r ...

, and

Orhei Orhei (), also formerly known as Orgeev (), is a city, municipality and the administrative centre of Orhei District in the Moldova, Republic of Moldova, with a population of 21,065. Orhei is approximately north of the capital, Chișinău. Hist ...

to form

Ținutul Nistru Ținutul Nistru was one of the ten ''ținuturi'' ("lands") of Romania, founded in 1938 after King of Romania, King Carol II of Romania, Carol II, initiated an institutional reform by modifying the 1923 Constitution of Romania, 1923 Constitution and ...

. The area of the county was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940 and became part of the

Moldavian SSR The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic or Moldavian SSR (, mo-Cyrl, Република Советикэ Сочиалистэ Молдовеняскэ), also known as the Moldovan Soviet Socialist Republic, Moldovan SSR, Soviet Moldavia, Sovie ...

. The area returned to Romanian administration as the

Bessarabia Governorate The Bessarabia Governorate was a province (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its administrative centre in Kishinev (Chișinău). It consisted of an area of and a population of 1,935,412 inhabitants. The Bessarabia Governorate bordered t ...

following the

Axis invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis powers, Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet ...

in July 1941. A military administration was established and the region's Jewish population was either executed on the spot or deported to the

Transnistria Governorate The Transnistria Governorate () was a Romanian-administered territory between the Dniester and Southern Bug, conquered by the Axis Powers from the Soviet Union during Operation Barbarossa. A Romanian civilian administration governed the territo ...

, where further numbers were killed. As the Soviet Union's offensive pushed the Axis powers back, the area again was under Soviet control. On September 12, 1944, Romania signed the Moscow Armistice with the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

. The Armistice, as well as the subsequent peace treaty of 1947, confirmed the Soviet-Romanian border as it was on January 1, 1941.

United States Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy of the United State ...

. Foreign relations of the United States, 1946
Paris Peace Conference: documents Volume IV (1946)
/ref> The area of the county, along with the rest of the Moldavian SSR, became part of the independent

Population

According to the census data of 1930, the county's population was 306,592, of which 53.4% were ethnic Romanians, 14.7% Russians, 12.8% Gagauz, 6.4% Bulgarians, 5.5% Jews, 3.4% Germans, 3.0% Ukrainians, 0.4% Romanies, as well as other minorities. From the religious point of view, the population consisted of 89.4% Eastern Orthodox, 5.5% Jewish, 3.0% Lutherans, 0.8% Old-style Orthodox, 0.6% Roman Catholic, 0.4% Baptist, as well as other minorities.

Urban population

In the year 1930, the county's urban population was 44,057, of which 35.6% were ethnic Russians, 19.8% Jews, 17.7% Gagauz, 16.7% Romanians, 4.4% Bulgarians, 3.1% Ukrainians, as well as other minorities. From a religious point of view, the urban population consisted of 75.1% Eastern Orthodox, 19.9% Jewish, 2.5% Old-style Orthodox, 1.0% Roman Catholic, 0.6% Lutheran, as well as other minorities.

References

External links

*
Tighina County on memoria.ro
Hala din Tighina

{{Coord missing, Moldova Former counties of Romania Counties of Bessarabia 1925 establishments in Romania 1938 disestablishments in Romania 1941 establishments in Romania 1944 disestablishments in Romania States and territories established in 1925 States and territories disestablished in 1938 States and territories established in 1941 States and territories disestablished in 1944